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The Mount Dora Ghost Walk is a ninety minutes long bizarre bilingual〔Show, Christine. Staff Writer Orlando Sentinel (January 29, 2009)(/ Mount Dora Ghost Walk targets Hispanic visitors )〕 theatrical and lantern guided walking tour of the city of Mount Dora, Florida. It is an adventure into the darker side of the city often referred by visitors as the New England of the South, and gets its inspiration from the local history, legends and myths that are compiled by a group of historians and actors. As an entertainment venue The Mount Dora Ghost Walk consists of live Victorian costumed actors giving a macabre theatrical interpretation that involves comedy, storytelling, improvisation and parlor magic, all of which is immediately followed by the full stage marionette theater performance that serves as the introductory platform launching the audience into the final walking tour. The outdoors tour itself, led by the same actors that performed during the indoors show, is the longest part of the venue and takes the participants through historical streets and inside landmark locations. The storyteller always stay in character while performing the interactive narration using props and other theatrical resources. To this date the show is considered the leading attraction of its kind in Lake County, Florida,〔Show, Christine. "Ghost Tours Coming to Tavares?" Orlando Sentinel (Monday April 19. 2011) (/ Ghost Tours Coming to Tavares? )〕 has been ranked among the top 10 spooky attractions in the Orlando, Florida area,〔Manieri Kristen. "Eerie Orlando" Orlando Homes & Leisure Magazine (October 2009)(/ Eerie Orlando )〕 and a location that regularly attracts the attention of paranormal investigators.〔Ell, Larry. Staff Writer. Daily Commercial (September 24, 2009).(/ Ghost Trackers look for evidence of paranormal activity in Mount Dora jail )〕〔Rippel, Amy C., Staff Writer. Orlando Sentinel. (October 30, 2008)(Is Mount Dora haunted? Ghost-chasers investigate )〕 For its first 3 years of existence the enterprise operated exclusively from the Mount Dora Historical Society Old Jail Museum, but as its aim has grown considerably to also include full length theatrical productions, the show is now associated with the historical Lakeside Inn in Mount Dora. The Mount Dora Ghost Walk originality and unique approaches have been a staple for the entire Central Florida area, and its reputation as an entertainment venue has stimulated several other groups to try to copy the concept, but unfortunately with less success. The creators would like to see more venues like theirs spawning all around the area. According to one of its founders Andrew Mullen, their failure may be because "the others just wanted to do a spooky show, but we have created the entire Cracker Gothic concept, restored cemeteries, produced full theater, and no one will be able to surpass or even match that! We are the original ghost storytellers in Lake County!" ==History== Although considered by many as a ghost tour or haunted attraction, The Mount Dora Ghost Walk can be more precisely defined as a theater experience very similar to the old and long gone ghost shows〔Carlson, Charlie(2005).() "Weird Florida", p.98-100. Sterling Publishing Co., New York. ISBN 0-7607-5945-6〕 running from the 1920s through the 1960s on movie theater stages across the United States. Inspired by the increasing public interest on the paranormal research of ghost hunters, and the proliferating number of guided tours geared towards the macabre side of history as a tourist attraction,〔Abbott, Jim, Staff Writer. Orlando Sentinel. (October 15, 2009) ("Haunted Florida: The darker side of the Sunshine State )〕 its creators and founders Andrew Mullen〔Vernarsky, Taylor. Staff Writer. Daily Commercial, Leesburg. (October 30, 2008) ("Historical and Haunting" )〕〔Comas, Martin e., Staff Writer Orlando Sentinel (January 28, 2010) (Run-down black cemetery a symbol of the past )〕 and Hector De Leon〔Carter, Lori. Staff Writer. Orlando Sentinel (October 26, 2008)(History buff portrays Lake's past in Mount Dora Ghost Walk )〕 adopted the idea for a similar ghost walk as their contribution to benefit the Mount Dora History Museum and the Mount Dora Historical Society.The City of Mount Dora and Lake County, Florida have a rich patrimony of ghostly legends of historical value,〔Brown, Roxanne & Vernarsky, Taylor. Staff Writers. Daily Commercial, Leesburg. (October 31, 2008) (The "Haunts" of Lake County )〕 so having a venue such as a ghost tour was not a far-fetched idea, considering that up to the time the amount of haunted attractions was negligible outside of those provided by the region's theme parks. Both being avid amateur historians with unique artistic talents, but sharing a common passion for historical reenactment, acting and Gothic lore, their concept evolved into a very different direction that including innovative puppetry, magic, actors, Storytellers and a historical trail, is self proclaiming to be a new form of Southern Gothic for which De Leon created the name "Cracker Gothic" to make a clear distinction. After their random first meeting at the front door of the museum, where Mullen volunteers as president of the Mount Dora Historical Society,〔Vernarsky, Taylor. Staff Writer. Daily Commercial, Leesburg. (October 5, 2008) ("After more than 100 years, the Simpson House gets a new lease on life thanks to the Mount Dora Library Association and Mount Dora Historical Society" )〕 the two quickly allied to brainstorm potential ideas and one week later they had a complete full script and the marionette stage on its way. The plan was simply to create a group of mysterious ghostly characters along a story line based or inspired on the history of Mount Dora. After researching and writing the stories the decision was made to invite local volunteers willing to participate acting the theatrical vignettes along the route, providing the voices for the marionette theater sound track, helping with the logistics, or guiding the tours as storytellers. More than thirty people of all ages responded to this first call and within days a full cast was complete and scheduled for weekly rehearsals. Once the rehearsals finished, the historical museum transformed into a haunted version of a Freak Show, and the marionette program was finalized; the official inaugural date of The Mount Dora Ghost Walk was October 28, 2008, with three shows running nightly through November 1, 2008.〔Manis, Debbie. Staff Writer, Orlando Sentinel. (October 9, 2008) (History, chills meet for initial Ghost Walk )〕 As the initial plan was to have the event only once a year, Mullen and De Leon never expected to receive the torrent of requests that followed asking to continue the show permanently, specially from the local Mount Dora business sector. A decision was promptly made to accommodate this general support with shows offered the 1st and 3rd weekends of the month, and during special times like Halloween, Christmas〔Manis, Debbie. Staff Writer. Orlando Sentinel (December 18, 2008) ("Boo Humbug" is latest from ghost walk )〕〔Vernarsky, Taylor. Staff Writer. Daily Commercial, Leesburg. (December 19, 2008) ("Ghost Walk combines Mount Dora's history and mystery with a little Dickens thrown in )〕 or any Friday the 13th. Since then, the group has continued providing a very creative entertaining production that has influenced and inspired others to bring more "scary" venues, particularly around Halloween.〔Donald, Davis. Staff Writer. Daily Commercial, Leesburg. (October 22, 2009) (/ "Halloween Haunts" )〕 However, The Mount Dora ghost Walk continues as the only year around macabre show in their area, and the only one that has served as a platform to bring new entertainment options like the Cracker Gothic Acting Group producing dinner theater and parlor theater performances at the historical Lakeside Inn, 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Mount Dora Ghost Walk」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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